QuickBooks Online was built to work with transactions downloaded from your online financial institutions. Here’s how to work with them. The ability to import transactions from financial institutions into QuickBooks Online is definitely one of the best things about the site. You may have even signed up for that very reason. By now, you’ve probably already set up at least one connection. But are you using all of the QuickBooks Online’s account tools? There’s a lot you can do once you’ve … [Read more...]

In a previous post I wrote about the Hierarchy of Financial Management Needs. Since Bookkeeping Services are the foundation for achieving sound financial management in any small business they need to provide more. I say only small business because as businesses grow so do their financial management needs. Regardless of company size the minimum requirement of a bookkeeping service is that they maintain complete, accurate, and timely accounts. This piece intends to talk about what traits set … [Read more...]

It’s the time of the year when everyone is sending out tips to help you set and achieve your goals in the new year. Well we’re no different. We know that many small business owners are realizing that they have opportunities to improve how their business is performing if their accounting could help them make the decisions. The following 5 ways are guaranteed to help you get actionable information and increase profits.
First let go of old ways, if you can't do this you won't be able to … [Read more...]

As a new business one of the hardest things to get setup is how to take payments. Many businesses see Square as an easy way to get setup but depending on your business type, there are better ways to collect payment for your product or service. Most small business fear that accepting credit cards will take away from their profits as it can be hard to forecast fees. In many states you are able to pass along the processing fees, referred to as a convenience fee, to accept your customer’s credit … [Read more...]

Almost every business has opportunities to increase their ROI by acting on what should be relatively easy to access information. Unfortunately because of other commitments, pulling together the needed information is not something that small businesses consistently do and as a result forever lose money making opportunities.
What is ROI?
ROI or Return On Investment is the business’s return to you on your investment and while there are many ways to increase ROI, how you manage your business’s … [Read more...]

The 1099 process can be confusing with business owners guessing about its requirements. Because tracking changes to the procedures can be overwhelming, many business owners file nothing at all. And risk costly penalties. The 1099 doesn't need to be complicated. To help simplify things, here are the four basic things business owners need to know about 1099s. Who: As a general rule, you must issue a Form 1099-MISC to form to any individual, partnership, Limited Liability Company, Limited … [Read more...]

I am excited because there are rumblings that Intuit is close to releasing an online version of their successful point of sale software. The current Quickbooks POS releases come in single store or multi-store modes as well as a stripped down basic version. They have the ability to interact with Quickbooks desktop software but not Quickbooks Online. From what we are hearing the new version is an online offering which could have a huge impact to users who wrestle between the easy to use single … [Read more...]

In a prior post, I discussed 7 things you should do to get your business ready to be sold the following article in Atlanta Business Journal has some additional points on planning ahead for the eventual disposition of your privately held business. Here are some key points: Establish relationships with appropriate professionals, such as investment bankers, lawyers, accountants.
Get the house in order
Gather reliable financial information, at least two years and trailing 12 … [Read more...]

To be a better business owner understanding the roles and limitations of a bookkeeper's responsibilities is crucial. The responsibilities of a bookkeeper should be data entry related activities. Accounting is the recording, classifying, and summarizing economic events for managers to make decisions. Many business owners make the mistake of relying too heavily on the bookkeeper in order to save money short term, when long term it is a poor business decision since a bookkeeper's training does not … [Read more...]

Intuit is making a welcome move to building out its QuickBooks Online offerings by adding Lettuce's inventory and order management functionality to the existing online product. While this is a big win for small business users, I am curious to see how it will impact the overall cost because one of the significant flaws that I see is that when you add the Quickbooks Online friendly a la carte modules that you could need as a small business to the existing QuickBooks Online product, the recurring … [Read more...]